Nightmare
by Aust Sakura Kyzor
Summary: You can't escape your nightmares any more than you can run from your mistakes. But just because something is impossible doesn't mean you shouldn't try to do it anyway. Post Volume 3. Abandoned, but basically complete as far as Ladybug is concerned.
1. 1 - Reunion

**Nightmare**

 **DISCLAIMER:** **Team RWBY, and all related references to** _ **RWBY,**_ **including locations, characters, weapons, monsters, dialogue, and Weiss are the creation of the late Monty Oum, and are owned by Rooster Teeth, a subsidiary of Fullscreen, Inc. I make no claim of ownership to said properties, and do not profit in any way from them. Under the fair use clause of international copyright law this work is 100% legal and not an infringement of copyright. This disclaimer will not appear anywhere else in this work except for purposes of clarification if and when original characters are involved.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Reunion**

 _He who does not trust enough, will not be trusted._ -Lao Tzu

* * *

She was tired of running, she wanted to stand tall and face her problems. But not this one. She had to run, she had to flee before she was spotted. What was Ruby even doing there? Wasn't she still recovering? And even if she wasn't, there was no reason for her to come back... was there? It ultimately didn't matter though. Ruby was here, and Blake needed to run before-

"BLAKE BELLADONNA I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU!"

-she was spotted...

* * *

Ruby wasn't sure what she would find in the ruins of Beacon. She trusted Qrow's words that Cinder's trail lead to Haven, and she didn't think she would find anything useful.

Maybe she just needed closure. Maybe she needed to see the frozen Grimm for herself. Maybe she just wanted a chance to say goodbye to two of her closest friends, even if they'd never hear those words.

Jaune, Ren, and Nora had gone to the top of what was left of Beacon tower, but Ruby had stayed behind. She couldn't go back, not yet. She instead patrolled around the city, making clearing Grimm as she went.

Having just destroyed a Boarbatusk, she scanned her surroundings for any further troublemakers when she noticed a flash of black out the corner of her eye. A familiar black, one that she wouldn't associate with Grimm.

Ruby spun to look properly, shifting Crescent Rose into sniper mode to get a better look, and her hunch was right. It was Blake.

"Blake..." she softly said to herself, before noticing that Blake was about to run again. Putting her weapon away, and preparing to run faster than she had ever run before, she vanished in a burst of petals, practically running up the side of a nearby building. Landing neatly on a rooftop, Ruby inhaled deeply before shouting at her teammate.

"BLAKE BELLADONNA I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED IN YOU!"

* * *

Somehow those words were more terrifying to Blake than any horror she's ever faced before. She froze up knowing she couldn't escape even if she wanted to. She didn't want to be caught, she just didn't want to make Ruby more annoyed with her.

Unfortunately, Ruby failed to realize that Blake had stopped running, and crashed right into her, sending both toppling from the roof into a nearby pile of insulation. Coughing, Blake tried to get up, only to find herself pinned by a glaring, tear-eyed, and very angry Ruby.

"You JERK!" she shouted at the Faunus. "You cowardly, selfish, promise-breaking JERK!" Blake had no response, and simply let Ruby yell, tears now flowing freely from Ruby's eyes onto Blake. "Do you even realize what you've done? You've broken your promise to Weiss! You broke Yang's heart! You've _betrayed_ me!"

"Ruby, I..."

"SHUT UP, BLAKE!" Ruby yelled before Blake could say anything, "I don't CARE why you run. You still RAN. When Yang, your friend, _your_ _partner_ needed you the most you _**ran.**_ Like a _coward._ Like you blamed yourself for what happened. Like... LIKE A BLAKE!" Blake winced, she deserved every word of it, but it still stung.

Ruby had stopped yelling, only because her tears had taken over. Collapsing onto Blake, she wrapped her arms around the cat, ignoring the itching from the insulation as she sobbed into her chest. Blake recognized that she wasn't moving any time soon, and simply held her leader, slowly letting tiredness take over.

* * *

It was thanks to her life in the White Fang that Blake had always been a light sleeper. Being a light sleeper meant that she could stay alert if the watch spotted something, or if an enemy got the drop on them, or if Adam was…

She cleared her head before she could dwell on the monster she once called a lover. Moving very carefully so as not to wake Ruby, she slowly started to get up, planning to make her escape while her leader was still sound asleep.

This is when she noticed that somehow Ruby hand managed to handcuff the two of them together, a longish chain keeping them bound. Even more frustrating was the fact that her semblance wouldn't help, thanks to the handcuffs, she was stuck to her former leader.

"Really, Blake?" A grumpy looking Ruby asked. "You honestly thought you'd be able to escape?"

Blake sighed. She should have figured it would be like that. Ruby wasn't their leader just for a whim, after all. "I really don't give you enough credit," she eventually replied. "When did you slip them on?"

"When you started drifting off," she replied proudly. "When your arm loosened its hold, I slipped it on. Then I pretended to be asleep, knowing you'd try to escape."

Blake would've been impressed if the situation wasn't so frustrating. 'Am I really that predictable?' she thought, before sighing in resignation. "So what now?" She asked.

"First we're going to find Jaune, Nora, and Ren," Ruby replied, unable to hide the sadness in her voice, which Blake noted. "Then make camp before heading out for Mistral."

"Mistral?"

"Uncle Qrow said that Cinder's trail leads to Haven. She _was_ pretending to be a student from there, so it's the only clue we have to finding her." Blake had noticed that anger had seeped into her tone; it was unsettling.

"Ruby?" Blake ventured, "What happened up there?" Blake almost immediately regretted asking, as the question brought Ruby nearly to tears.

"I… I was too late, Blake," she responded, "I got up there just in time to watch Pyrrha die… and… and I was just so… so _angry_ , and then everything went white and I woke up in my room a week later to a missing Cinder, a frozen… dragon thingy, and Vale in ruins." Ruby looked up to glare at Blake again, "not to mention a depressed Yang, a Weiss-napped partner, and a runaway Blake." Ruby punctuated the last point with a sharp poke to Blake's forehead.

Backing up slightly, Ruby crossed her arms. "And if you think for a _second_ I'm going to let you run again, you're a dummy."

"So why the handcuffs?"

"Because I knew you'd try to escape the second I wasn't paying attention."

"And where'd you get them?"

"T-that's not important," Ruby stuttered, clearly flustered.

"My…" Blake drawled, noticing Ruby's flustered state, "Ruby, I didn't know you were so… kinky…" She smirked when Ruby's face rapidly turned a shade of red to rival her cape.

"B-BLAKE!" Ruby stammered, "I-It's n-not like that!" She pulled the hood of her cape over her face, trying in vain to hide it.

Blake chuckled briefly. It had been far too long since she'd been able to laugh. At the same time, she sighed inwardly. She had hoped that getting Ruby worked up like that would trick her into releasing the cuffs. Ruby was a lot more stubborn than she thought.

"C-come on," Ruby finally managed to stutter, "let's get to the meeting place. We need to talk before the others get back." Blake, knowing that she wasn't going to get away, simply followed.

* * *

The two teammates sat across from each other in a simple campsite hidden in the ruins of a building. A heavy, awkward silence between them. Eventually Ruby cleared her throat, gaining Blake's attention.

"Talk." She said, glaring at Blake again.

"What?"

"Why did you run, Blake?" Ruby leaned forward. "Spill it. Now."

Blake was taken aback. Whatever had happened had dramatically changed the innocent girl she met months ago. Sighing she looked down at her hands.

"When the Grimm breached the city, Weiss and I headed back to Beacon to help fight the White Fang. Weiss and I split up, and then… I found him."

"Him?"

"Adam Taurus…" she responded shakily, "leader of the White Fang… and my old partner."

"The one you said had turned into a monster?"

"Y-yeah… He was there… and before I knew it, he was right back into his old ways with me…"

"Old ways? Blake, were you-?"

"Please," Blake interrupted, "not yet. I can't go there yet…"

Nodding, Ruby backed off, letting Blake finish.

"I tried to fight him, but he overwhelmed me quickly… he said he'd destroy everything I ever loved… and that's when Yang found us and attacked… Y-you can probably guess the rest."

"Y-yeah, I saw…" Ruby looked down to her feet. "But you managed to save my sister's life, and I'm grateful for it."

"But she lost her arm because of me!"

"She lost her arm because of Adam. Not you. You saved Yang's life. She would be dead if not for you."

"But… but I…"

"She doesn't blame you, Blake. Not for that." Ruby didn't say it, but she didn't hide the anger and sense of betrayal that Yang had felt either. "And let me guess: you ran so Adam couldn't hurt us, right?"

"Y-yeah," Blake muttered, rather humbled by how easily Ruby had read her.

Ruby just sighed, "Blake, you're a valuable part of the team, a good friend, and one of the strongest people I ever met… but DUST you're an idiot."

Blake jerked her head up. She wasn't expecting the insult. "W-what did you say?"

"Blake Belladonna," Ruby started, punctuating her next words with a poke, "You. Are. A. Moron." She sat back and crossed her arms, not bothering to be careful about the cuffs and pulling Blake from her seat.

"I… don't understand…"

"How exactly would running save us from Adam?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean; why would Adam need you around to kill us? He could easily find everything he needs to know without you. You aren't holding a big sign that says 'I love this person, please kill them', are you?"

"N-no…"

"So, Adam knows you love all three of us, and he doesn't need you there to kill us. All you've done is make the team weaker."

Blake was stunned. In a few words, Ruby had brought everything crashing back down. The walls around her heart once again demolished by somebody pointing out the error of her logic.

"I'm sorry," she finally said, tears in her eyes.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Ruby replied, "but we're too far from home to see Yang right now, so save it."

"Can you at least release the cuffs?"

"Nope!" Ruby replied, popping the 'p' in her usual style

'Damn it,' Blake thought. "Fine, then I guess I'm coming with you."

"Yep!" Ruby stated, popping the 'p' once again. She sat down beside Blake, pulling her into a tight hug. "I really missed you," she mumbled into Blake. "Please don't do that again. I don't think Yang or Weiss will forgive you a third time."

Blake's ears perked. "Does that mean you?"

"Are you still cuffed to me?"

"Yes?"

"Then you have your answer." Ruby sighed. "Blake, you broke Yang's heart, but once she bounces back, and she always does, she'll forgive you. You broke your promise to Weiss, but she'll forgive you. But you _betrayed_ me, Blake. I trusted you not to do this and you did it anyway. That's WHY I cuffed you."

Blake's ears flattened, Ruby's words cutting her deeply. She knew she deserved them, but that didn't make the pain any less deep.

"Give me time, Blakey… Time can heal all wounds, even this one."

In that moment Blake broke, and, wrapping her arms around her leader, she began to cry. Ruby simply held her close.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed into her leader's arms. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: First of all, consider Jailbreak abandoned at this point. Rizzles and I were all set to write more, and had three chapters planned, and then episodes 9-12 happened.**

 **TOO SAD! CAN'T MAKE THAT AU NOW... they said, in the AN of a story that will be pretty angsty.  
**

 **That said, it's going to be another 3845734095834597 days until Volume 4 begins, so that leaves plenty of time for what I'd like to see happen.**

 **And what I'd like to see is so much Ladybug. We'll see ReNora and friends too. As well as Weiss and Yang. Maybe even Glynda. I actually have plans for this one, and motivation to see it through… assuming I don't get distracted by Skyrim.**

 **Anyway, I'm done for now. Asky AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY**


	2. 2 - Emergence

**Nightmare**

 **Chapter 2 -Emergence  
**

" _Your nightmares follow you like a shadow, forever."_ – Aleksander Hemon

* * *

" _What you want is impossible!" the monster before Blake had shouted. "But I understand because all I want is you, Blake." Adam drew closer and closer, readying Wilt for an attack. "And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."_

 _A sound, Blake looked with panic towards the one person she didn't want at this very moment. Yang was looking for her._

 **Blake…**

" _Starting with her." Without warning, the beast that Blake once called a friend plunged his blade into her side. Yang saw and leapt towards them in her finishing move, only for Adam to cut right through her aura and sever her arm._

 **Blake…!**

 _Blake watched helplessly as Yang hit the ground and could only scream silently as he watched Adam approach and kill her closest friend._

 **Blake! BLAKE! WAKE UP!**

* * *

Ruby had been awoken by Blake's soft screaming, but as they grew louder Ruby needed to take action, lest she attract Grimm to their position. Not sure what else to do, Ruby tried shaking and yelling in Blake's ear. Something seemed to have worked though, because Blake soon bolted upright, panting, drenched in sweat.

Blake could only babble, however, and was still in a state of panic, so Ruby simply held the Faunus, gently cooing and whispering, "It's okay, it's alright, you're safe…" in Blake's ear.

It was awhile before Blake was calm enough to breath properly, Ruby continuing to hold her all the while. Ren had ventured back to the campsite just to make sure the two girls were okay before heading to his own bedroll now that it was Ruby and Blake's turn to keep watch.

It had been nearly a week since Ruby and Blake had reunited, and every night since Blake had been awoken by a nightmare. The first night had scared Ruby, who nearly panicked as much as Blake was. She quickly grew used to it though, and now she had the two of them taking last watch so that they didn't lose out on sleep.

Eventually the two moved from the site and patrolled briefly, looking for a decent lookout point. Ruby hadn't yet removed the cuffs, so they still had to be mindful of their movement, and take each other into consideration when it came to choosing a lookout. Eventually they decided on a large tree with many branches. Easy enough to climb and see out, but just tangled enough for concealment. They sat in silence their backs to each other, both huntresses' weapons ready to fire at the first sign of a Grimm. For the moment, silence was their conversation, and their only companion was a single crow who seemed content to simply watch.

Sighing, Ruby eventually broke the silence. "You ready to talk about it yet?" Ruby already knew what Blake would say, but she asked anyway. Blake wasn't ready, and Ruby doubted that she ever would be. If she really wanted to, Ruby could have pried, knowing that Blake was reliving the night Beacon fell.

Blake shook her head. _'Oh well,'_ Ruby thought, _'she'll tell me when she's ready…'_ The two sat for a few more silent moments before Ruby decided to break the silence.

"Do you think Weiss is okay?"

Blake sighed, partially relieved that Ruby dropped the topic, yet broke the silence; but she also felt guilt for part of her old team being brought up. "From what I've heard about her father, he's pretty much the worst human… but what I've heard was also through a White Fang filter, so I honestly don't know anymore."

Ruby whimpered. She didn't want to hear that answer. "She's tough… she'll be okay… right?"

Blake grasped Ruby's hand in an effort to reassure her. "Weiss has the strongest will out of all of us. She's stubborn and headstrong. If she hasn't convinced her father to bring her back, she's probably sneaking out the window and heading for Vale right now."

"I hope you're right, Blake," Ruby sighed. "I really hope you're right…"

* * *

Somewhere in Atlus, Weiss Schnee was running, having escaped from Schnee Manor is the most obvious way possible. She climbed out the window, and somehow nobody noticed. At least she hoped nobody had noticed yet. She wanted to be at the academy before her father because aware of her escape.

She couldn't help but wonder how nobody had seen her. The very first thing she did when she returned to Schnee Manor was attempt to climb out the window while her father was distracted. She was caught mid-climb, and the windows were all sealed. Except for the one in her room for some reason.

Weiss wanted to stop and think about this. Logically it made no sense. But she couldn't stop. She had to get to Winter. Winter was the only way she could get back to Vale. Back home. She needed to get back to Ruby and Yang. She needed to find Blake. She needed to help her partner bring team RWBY back together.

But she first needed to get to Winter. Winter was the only person who could keep her father at bay long enough for her to grab Ironwood and go.

* * *

" _What you want is impossible!" Yang heard from somewhere. "But I understand because all I want is you, Blake." Yang started after hearing her partner's name, wherever she was; Blake was in trouble. "And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love."_

 **No…**

 _Yang threw caution to the winds and rushed towards the voices. Turning the corner, she saw a red haired Faunus standing before Blake, who was wounded and on the ground._

" _Starting with her," the man said, and he plunged his blade into her side. Yang saw and leapt towards them in her finishing move, only for him to cut right through her aura and sever her arm._

 _Yang hit the ground and looked helplessly as he approached, only for Blake to block the way._

 **No!**

 _He swung, and in an instant, Blake had lost her head and her life._

 **NOOO!**

* * *

"BLAKE!" Yang bolted upright, gasping for air. Sleep had been eluding her since the Battle of Beacon, but usually it had been dreamless. She'd never had a nightmare like this. It was like she was reliving the worst possible outcome of that horrible night.

That day was the worst day of Yang Xiao Long's life, she was attacked by Mercury, accused of a crime she didn't commit, robbed of her victory, her arm, three of her closest friends, and any shred of happiness she had left.

Now she could only lay in bed. Blake had run away, taking Yang's heart with her; Weiss was essentially kidnapped by her own family; and now Ruby, her own sister, had abandoned her, leaving their father in a panicked state.

Taiyang had rushed into the room to make certain Yang was okay. Yang lazily glanced over at her father, barely registering his presence.

'… _wait, Ruby abandoned me?'_

"Yang…" Taiyang finally managed to gasp out, "are you… okay…?"

"Dad? Where's Ruby?"

"What?"

"Where. Is. My Sister?" Yang was surprised by her own impatience. She usually kept it in check with her father, but she had a feeling that she had done something unforgivable.

"She… she left. She wrote a note saying she was going after the bad guys. I don't know where that's going to take her though…." Taiyang was looking everywhere but at Yang. He was hiding something.

"Dad… can I see the note?"

"You can…" he started, "…but I don't think you want to."

"I think I need to, Dad," Yang argued. She really didn't want to read it, but she had to know why Ruby left. She had to know if it was her fault.

Sighing, Taiyang handed the note to his eldest daughter.

"Thanks…" she replied, "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep, so… just go back to bed."

"Alright, Yang. You shout if you need me, okay?" Yang didn't respond. She was engrossed in Ruby's message. Seeing this, Taiyang simply left.

Yang held the note in her hand, tears in her eyes as she read her sister's scrawling handwriting:

 _Dad:_

 _I've gone to find the bad guys. I need to do this, because it's the only way I can help Yang. Sorry for not telling you beforehand and sneaking out, but you would've stopped me, and then I'd have had to sneak out the window in the dead of night. Take care of Yang, because I don't know if she's gonna bounce back. I love you._

 _Ruby_

The paper slipped from her fingers and onto the floor. Tears flowed freely from Yang's eyes as she read the note. Her fears were realized upon reading it; Ruby had given up on her, and left to sort things herself.

"What have I done?"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

 **This took a LOT longer than I wanted it to take. I just wasn't happy with the nightmares, no matter how I wrote them, and I ended up essentially rewriting the last scene of Chapter 11 with slight tweaks, which I honestly would find more terrifying as a nightmare anyway.**

 **We also got to see the other half of RWBY, and how Weiss is handling the situation. I totally stole that from weissrabbit on tumblr. You should go check out their work.**


	3. 3 - Confession, Forgiveness, Ignorance

Nightmare

Chapter 3: Confession, Forgiveness, and Acceptance

 **TRIGGER WARNING:** This chapter contains discussion of, references to, and scenes depicting sexual assault. On a minor. It is in the last section of this chapter, and a second warning will appear before the scenes in question.

* * *

If Weiss' father was anyone other than Snow Schnee, she wouldn't be worried about how easy her escape had been. Her father was many things; abusive, perverse, misguided, racist, and generally a horrible person. He wasn't stupid. He could make mistakes, and he certainly could underestimate his daughters, but Weiss wasn't subtle with her escape either. Even if her father was the ultimate buffoon, he would have still noticed his rebellious daughter who fought returning to Atlas sneaking out the window.

Shaking her thoughts out, she pulled her coat closer to herself and kept going. She wished she still had her combat skirt, but her father had disposed of it almost immediately once they had reached the manor. She shivered, missing the fire dust-laced petticoat of her skirt. Her current attire was similar in that it was a skirt with a long-sleeved sweater instead of the jacket her combat attire came with, but it wasn't meant to keep you warm.

Not to far off in the distance she saw the distinctive silhouette of barbed wire; the indication that the base was nearby. Steeling herself with new determination to make it to the base, she pressed on. About 20 minutes later she had reached the fence. Looking inside, she spotted what she came for: decommissioned bulkheads. She looked around inside further, trying to find the entrance and an admin building.

"There's the admin centre…" she muttered to herself about a minute later, "Ironwood's probably in there…"

"You'd think that," a deep voice interrupted her thoughts, "but you'd be wrong."

Surprised, Weiss whipped around, Mytenaster already in her hand and pointing towards the voice, only to find no-one there.

"Relax," the voice responded, sounding amused by her actions, "much as I hate your family I respect you too much to hurt you."

Weiss flinched at the voice's words; once again she was in danger because of her father, and once again she was saved by her name.

"Oh, don't be like that, Schnee." The voice said, vaguely apologetic, "I actually kinda like you. After the fight at the festival, I can say that rest of the team _definitely_ does."

Wait, festival?

"Flynt Coal?" Weiss asked, wondering if he was even there, or if it was just one of his clones.

"'sup, Schnee?" he responded, the musician stepping into view. "Planning to just jump into danger again? That didn't even work last time."

Weiss relaxed her stance, but still held her sword at the ready. "What are you doing here?"

"Officially? This is Team FNKI's first post-grad mission," he held his hands up to make clearly sarcastic air quotes, "'Stop Weiss Schnee from doing something stupid, load her into a bulkhead, and bring her home.'"

"I… see…" she slowly responded, "so I'm going to do something stupid, am I?"

"Well…" Flynt started, "from the looks of things, that's true even if we DID follow the official plan"

Weiss looked up, startled by Flynt's statement, "so what are you _actually_ going to do?"

"TECHNICALLY," he began, "we're doing exactly what we were ordered to do. Stop you from doing something stupid…" he stopped to point at the building, "this base was abandoned about an hour after you… 'left' Schnee Manor. The only vaguely humanoid thing in there is one of those Knight Grimm things." Weiss gasped, "going in there is definitely stupid."

"And taking me home?"

"Well, you obviously don't consider Schnee Manor your home," the two scoffed simultaneously, "no, while it's probably a pile of rubble now; Beacon is definitely your home, and we're taking you as close to it as we can: Patch Island." Weiss' heart skipped a beat. Whether he realized it or not, Flynt was taking her right to Yang. Flynt noticed the reaction and chuckled, "guess I owe Neon twenty lien. Yang really IS related to Taiyang Xiao-Long."

"W-what _exactly_ are you implying, Coal?" Weiss tried, badly, to sound indignant, and trying to force her blush down with similar results.

"Oh come on, Weiss." Flynt was laughing now, "you two _kissed_ as she carried you out of the arena. It's pretty clear you two are lovers."

Weiss' cheeks flushed a shade of red that would make Ruby's cape look brown in comparison. Not able to speak coherently anymore, she simply shook her head and followed Flynt as he lead her away from the Grimm lair. "Come on, Schnee," he said, "Neon's family has a much better ride than some decommissioned bulkhead."

* * *

Weiss knew that the Katt's were a wealthy family – they had to be seeing as they were a Faunus family living, _happily_ living, in the most racist nation on Remnant. When Snow Schnee rose to his level of power on the wings of the Schnee Dust Company, he did his damnedest to crush the competition and hold a monopoly. Unfortunately for him, Katt Kinetics was there first, and dug its roots deep. Schnee couldn't buy them out, and he couldn't compete with them either. In the end, all he could do was censure as much information about them as he could. Weiss didn't know this, nor did she know that Argon Katt designed and built most of General Ironwood, which showed that if nothing else, Snow kept his family in the dark.

Weiss' plan was to get into the base, grab Ironwood, and possibly Winter, steal a bulkhead, and make a beeline for Vale. It wasn't the best plan, and had some very clear flaws. The biggest one though, was the fact that Ironwood apparently never left Vale, which would certainly put a damper on getting him to build a prosthetic for Yang. But then, Weiss didn't know that Neon Katt's father built Ironwood's body. Weiss felt like an idiot.

The new plan had Weiss, joined by Flynt and Neon, heading as close to Patch Island as they could get in Neon's private jet, with the other half of Team FNKI staying behind long enough to distract the military before they got out themselves. As for the prosthetic: Neon was already designing one for Yang, and Weiss knew that Signal would have the resources needed to build it.

Weiss looked out the window towards the oncoming horizon, nervous about seeing Yang, and hoping that neither sister had gone and done something incredibly foolish.

* * *

Yang Xiao Long had gone and done something incredibly foolish.

In an effort to try to restore at least a small amount of her stamina and strength to what it was before her injury, she started an exercise routine that was perhaps a little too ambitious.

The result of which was her forgetting that she only had one arm when she dropped to the ground to do push-ups.

She groaned and struggled to get off the ground, settling for a sitting position after about 20 minutes of pushing. "I'm such a wreck…" she complained to nobody in particular, knowing that nobody was listening anyway. Qrow was off doing who knows what, and her father couldn't stay around much, since he still had a career to attend to; and even if he was home, he was usually too busy fretting over Yang or the still-missing Ruby to let her do these exercises anyway.

Yang sighed to herself. She still felt guilty about Ruby leaving. Maybe if she wasn't such an angry lump, Ruby wouldn't have left. She knew that wasn't the case, and that Ruby would have gone one way or another. Yang just wished that she was there with her, instead of sitting around here.

Deciding that she's sat long enough, she began struggling to her feet, deciding that maybe a punching bag would be a better exercise option. She looked down at the stump that used to be her dominate arm and sighed again. Having to re-learn how to write had been annoying, and she really wanted to sit down and re-design Ember Cilica; a lack of shielding had been her downfall, and she already had some ideas on how to fix that problem.

Walking back into the house, she didn't notice the raven closely watching her.

* * *

TRIGGER WARNING: Skip this section and go straight to the end notes if you do not feel comfortable with the coming content.

Are you okay with the content? Leave now if you aren't.

* * *

How long had it been since the first time?

When it first happened, she blamed herself; she must have done something wrong and this was her punishment. She made sure not to make a sound. If she was silent, he would stop sooner. Her logic might have worked on a man – but Adam Taurus was no man. He was no Faunus either. He was a monster that even the Grimm would hesitate to approach.

Blake sadly never realized this until it was far too late. She had hoped that he wouldn't go so far as to attack other women… then he hoped she wouldn't go so far as to harm another sentient creature… then she hoped he wouldn't go so far as to harm his fellow Faunus. Her excuses kept mounting until finally he crossed a line she couldn't forgive.

Blake often wondered if she was just as bad for not acting sooner; but now those thoughts disappeared just as fast as they came. She was a victim, one of many. Blake was no longer blaming herself - she only faulted herself for not noticing the red flags sooner, and that thought was fading fast thanks to Ruby's constant reassurance. Ruby was more therapeutic than the young girl would ever realize, and just by being in her presence, Blake's nightmares had started to slowly vanish. She no longer watched Yang die at the hands of Taurus, trapped by her own fears. She no longer watched Beacon burn, nor every horrible act committed by Taurus, Torchwick, or herself under Taurus' forceful eye.

All of her nightmares were becoming just that: nightmares. But the one that remained was the worst. Blake's introspective led to a short, but meaningful glance down at the sleeping girl she felt that she owed so much to. She sighed inwardly, knowing what she had to do, and gently roused Ruby awake.

"Ruby…" she called gently, "wake up… I need to talk to you… alone preferably. I'm tired of running…"

Ruby, to her credit, awoke fairly quickly and slowly got up with the Faunus and followed her to a nearby, secluded spot. Close enough to the fire for safety, but far enough for privacy. She trusted Jaune, Ren, and Nora, but what she was about to say wasn't for their ears.

As they moved, Blake nodded at Jaune, who was keeping watch, pointing towards where the two were going. He nodded back, unable to do much else because Nora, who was supposed to be keeping watch with him, had wrapped her arms around him, snoring loudly. Oddly enough, so was Ren.

Now sufficiently secluded, the two RWBY teammates sat facing each other. Ruby waited patiently, while Blake sat, breathing deeply, trying to calm herself enough to speak.

After a few silent minutes, Blake finally started to speak. "I was young… probably 12 or so, when Cain Taurus – Adam's father – took over the White Fang… At the time I had just met Adam… didn't know how he operated or anything like that. All I knew was that he was older, the son of the new leader, and 12-year-old me thought he was pretty handsome. Thinking back now, the looks he used to give me since then should've been a red flag….

"I couldn't have been older than fifteen when he first broke into my room and forced himself upon me. At first I thought it had to have been my fault; that I'd done something wrong and that it was my punishment. I know better now, but back then I was just a scared young girl…

"At first I thought that if I was silent, he'd leave faster, but he'd get more violent if I screamed or remained silent… so I had to learn to fake it, and pretend nothing was wrong… and it never stopped. Not until I escaped. For three years that… _monster_ raped me, and I could do nothing. All I could do was hope he didn't do anything worse, but he did. He raped other women; including humans, probably before slaughtering them; he just lost more and more of his mask of civility as time went on… and then he took full control. That's when I realized that if I stayed any longer, I would be forced down a one-way road. So I ran…. And then I kept running until I bumped into you…. And then I ran _again._ And I tried to run once more until you had enough and chased me.

"Ruby… I don't think you even realize just how much you've helped me by cuffing me. If you have it you to forgive me, know that I am so, _so_ sorry. I'm not running away anymore, so please…" Blake looked up at Ruby, tears flowing freely, " _help me..."_ before she threw herself into Ruby's arms, crying.

The air was silent for a few very long moments, broken only by Blake's quiet sobs. Finally, the silence was broken by a distinct click, followed by a clattering of metal on the ground. Blake looked up, her eyes still blurry from the tears. "…Ruby?"

"Of course I forgive you, dummy."

* * *

IT IS NOW SAFE TO CONTINUE READING…

The **Author's Note :**

 **Oh my fucking GOD this chapter killed me to write. It wasn't just the fact that I'm extremely busy lately; the last part was a nightmare. I hate my brain; it always forces me to relive my own trauma.**

So... it's been awhile. Sorry 'bout that. I was distracted by school and work and heat. I'm a baker and so far this has been the hottest summer on record since I've been alive - you can imagine my anguish.

But every week I've got a five-hour lecture that's completely pointless, and has mandatory attendance, so I've been using the time to write in spurts - I'm determined to finish this, no matter how badly it kicks my ass around. Now that I've set my three plot-points in motion, it should be easier.

Assuming I don't get distracted by Civ V or Pokémon Go... Those Jynx aren't going to catch themselves, you know


End file.
